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Will Apple Raise iPhone Prices Due to Skyrocketing Memory Chip Prices?

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There has been a lot of discussion lately about skyrocketing memory chip prices, and how that might impact the iPhone and other Apple devices.

iPhone-17-Pro-Colors.jpg

For those who are not caught up to speed, prices for both DRAM and NAND storage chips have been surging lately due to increased demand from companies building out AI servers. Nvidia has reportedly surpassed Apple as chipmaker TSMC's biggest customer as a result of this boom, despite record-breaking iPhone sales last quarter.

The demand for memory chips for AI servers is so high right now that reports have indicated that chipmakers such as TSMC, Samsung, and SK Hynix cannot keep up with supply despite operating at or near full capacity. This supply-demand imbalance is allowing for chipmakers to raise prices for memory chips, with Taiwanese research firm TrendForce today estimating that conventional DRAM and NAND contract prices could rise up to 90–95% and up to 55-60% this quarter, respectively, compared to last quarter.

Apple surely still has plenty of leverage as one of the world's largest consumer electronics makers, but it is not entirely immune to the pricing situation.

On an earnings call last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that the rising chip prices will have a "bit more of an impact" on the company's gross margin in the current quarter. Nevertheless, Apple forecasted that its revenue will rise 13% to 16% in the quarter on a year-over-year basis, so the company still expects growth.

Cook said Apple "will look at a range of options to deal with" the rising prices, if necessary, but he did not mention any specific plans.

While the situation is rapidly evolving, it seems unlikely for now that one of those measures would be raising iPhone prices, for a few reasons.

First, Apple forecasted that its overall gross margin will remain strong at 48% to 49% in the current quarter, so the company is managing for now.

Second, Taiwanese supply chain publication DigiTimes today reported that some suppliers expect Apple to intensify its cost-cutting demands going forward. It is unclear if this refers to DRAM and NAND chip suppliers, or if Apple will try to negotiate more favorable deals with suppliers of other components to offset the impact.

Apple has historically been extremely sensitive about passing on price increases to customers, and it is known to have excellent supply chain management.

In line with that, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently said that Apple's current plan for the iPhone 18 Pro models later this year is to "avoid raising prices as much as possible." He predicted that Apple will "at least keep the starting price flat," suggesting that iPhone 18 Pro models will not cost more than iPhone 17 Pro models.

Kuo was specifically commenting on starting prices, so it remains to be seen if Apple increases the prices of its already-overpriced storage upgrade options.

Related Reading: Apple May Break a 10-Year Chip Strategy

Article Link: Will Apple Raise iPhone Prices Due to Skyrocketing Memory Chip Prices?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/02/02/will-apple-raise-iphone-prices/
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Of course they will and they'll likely target the storage upgrade pricing. Look at iPhone 12 and the price increases back then due to 5G components. Apple raised the prices and took out the charger and EarPods. Apple's not going to eat 50-300% price increases in DRAM and NAND.
 
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JPack said:
Of course they will and they'll likely target the storage upgrade pricing. Look at iPhone 12 and the price increases back then due to 5G components. Apple raised the prices and took out the charger and EarPods. Apple's not going to eat 50-300% price increases in DRAM and NAND.
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It's about a $40 cost increase per unit. They already raised prices this past year to more than account for that. There is no justification for further increases.
 
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My guess is that base prices will stay the same (as will the amount of RAM and storage at the base price) but prices for higher RAM and storage configurations may go up a bit.
 
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Aleh said:
Nobody wants all this AI garbage and yet the entire world has to suffer for it. Absolutely insane.
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To say that nobody wants it is a bit much. For some people, it has already become a life-altering tool. For others, it is a useful occasional tool. For others still, they haven't even started to see what it can do.

Many people are resistant to new things, and are resistant to AI as well, without having a reason. It will continue to become a part of people's everyday lives, including those who claim today that they don't want it.
 
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Farquar said:
It's about a $40 cost increase per unit. They already raised prices this past year to more than account for that. There is no justification for further increases.
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$40 is about cost of the A18 chip or half the cost of the 6.9-inch display.

Apple isn't about to give you a free SoC or half a display without raising the prices.
 
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Apple will raise prices and it doesn't matter if there's a memory shortage or not. And all the sad saps here will gladly pay it because the alternative is somehow even worse.
 
JPack said:
$40 is about cost of the A18 chip or half the cost of the 6.9-inch display.

Apple isn't about to give you a free SoC or half a display without raising the prices.
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They already raised the price of the mid tier and pro models by $100 last year. It is already baked into the price.
 
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Farquar said:
To say that nobody wants it is a bit much. For some people, it has already become a life-altering tool. For others, it is a useful occasional tool. For others still, they haven't even started to see what it can do.

Many people are resistant to new things, and are resistant to AI as well, without having a reason. It will continue to become a part of people's everyday lives, including those who claim today that they don't want it.
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Without having a reason? There are PLENTY of reasons to dislike the AI push.
 
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I'm not surprised Tim Cook is treading carefully here. Apple really messed up with the pricing of the iPhone Air. You can currently get a brand new base model at a discount of 25% 👀 on Amazon. They would not want to make this mistake with their cash cow of Pro (Max) models.

It would of course be a fun economics experiment to finally determine how inelastic iPhone demand really is.
 
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On a side note. I wanted to buy a 1 TB chip for my Mac Mini Pro during boxing day. They were sold out and I was still able to order it.
Last week it was delivered at the Black Friday price.
Checking Amazon the chip had doubled in price since my order.
 
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